Universe of Platonic Thought 2026

34th International Conference “The Universe of Platonic Thought: Plato the Architect of Sciences”

Alexander Alexandrovich Sinitsyn, CSc in History, Associate Professor; Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Associate Professor

Herodotus, Thucydides, and Karamzin in K.N. Batyushkov's poem «To the Creator of "The History of the Russian State"» (1818)*

The article examines “To the Creator of ‘The History of the Russian State’”, a poem by a Russian poet K. N. Batyushkov. It was written in the summer of 1818 and published in the Petersburg’s “The Pole Star” almanac in 1824. Enthused by the latest historical work by the Russian writer, N. М. Karamzin, the author dedicated his verse to him. In February 1818, the whole eight-volume set of “The History of the Russian State” came out. Few are poetic works in the Russian archives (and in those of the world, into the bargain) featuring both Herodotus and Thucydides. Batyushkov’s work is the first in the Russian poetic corpus that brings together the two Greek contemporary historians. The author of the article examines the context of the poem, its literary sources and variants of their interpretation by Batyushkov.

Keywords: Herodotus, Thucydides, Karamzin, Batyushkov, History of the Russian State, reception of antiquity, Russian poetry

The article examines “To the Creator of ‘The History of the Russian State’”, a poem by a Russian poet Konstantin Nikolaevich Batyushkov (1787–1855). It was written in the summer of 1818 and published in the Petersburg’s “The Pole Star” almanac in 1824. Enthused by the latest historical work by the Russian writer, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766–1826), the author dedicated his verse to him. In February 1818, the whole eight-volume set of “The History of the Russian State” came out.

Konstantin N. Batyushkov spent the summer of 1818 in the south of Russia — in Odessa and its environs. From Odessa he would go to the ruins of the Ancient Greek Olbia. During this journey, Batyushkov had never parted with Herodotus’ “Histories” and he wrote to E. F. Muravyeva, “I visited the Olbia graves… Herodotus was always at hand”; something to this effect occurs in his letter to A. I. Turgenev, “Here, I walked around the ruins of Olbia: how many memories they evoked! I wish our Karamzin had been to these parts. What meat it would have been for him! One can wander around with nothing else but Herodotus’ book”.

In the Russian south, the impressions produced on the Russian poet by the artefacts of the Hellenic culture in situ and his infatuation with Herodotus’ “Histories” coincided with his reading of the epic history by Nikolai Karamzin. This poem brought together Herodotus, Thucydides, Karamzin, and the author himself, enchanted by the “Russian Herodotus”. Few are poetic works in the Russian archives featuring both Herodotus and Thucydides. Batyushkov’s work is the first in the Russian poetic corpus that brings together the two Greek contemporary historians.

Batyushkov’s poem consists of two parts. In the first one, the poet relates the episode from the life history of Thucydides written by a biographer Marcellinus (the 5th century AD) about the encounter of Thucydides and Herodotus. In the second part, the poet draws a Russian parallel with this ancient account: he speaks about the striking impression of his reading of “The History of the Russian State” by Karamzin. Marcellinus testifies (Vita Thuc. 54): “There is also evidence that Herodotus was prelecting upon his ‘History’, which sent Thucydides crying. Herodotus is said to have noticed this and turned to Olorus, Thucydides’ father, uttering, ‘Olorus, the nature of your son thirsts for knowledge’”. In poetic terms, Batyushkov makes great play of the subject involving the two philosophers. Herodotus of Halicarnassus recites excerpts of his historical work, and among his audience is young Thucydides. Batyushkov never calls Herodotus by his actual name, but uses the nickname given to him by the Roman writer and orator Cicero — the “Father of History”; the poet also speaks about the subject of his work: “The Father of History read the accounts of the Greeks crushing the Asian chiefs”. Contrary to Marcellinus’ story, Batyushkov does not mention Thucydides’ father, and the recital by the “Father of History” happens to have been in Olympia, north-west of Peloponnesus, which the Athenian youth must have reached on his own from his home polis. Marcellinus does not specify the place where young Thucydides met the celebrated traveller and writer from Minor Asia. But with good reason, he surmised that it might have happened in Athens.

It is unknown whether Batyuskov was familiar with Vita Thucydidis, but even if he had read Marcellinus’ sketch, he borrowed the account of the public address made by Herodotus, with young Thucydides present, from “The Emili Letters” by Mikhail Nikolaevich Muraviev (1757–1807) — his cousin once removed, a well-known poet and writer. Batyushkov edited the late Muraviev’s book published in 1815, three years before the poem “To the Creator of ‘The History of the Russian State’”. Muraviev writes, “When Herodotus read his history at the Olympic Games, all the huge number of the Greek peoples were entranced and plunged into silence to be followed by a thunder of applause at the end thereof. Each of his nine Books is given the honorific title of a Muse; and young Thucydides, among the listeners, shed tears of contest and pledged, in his heart of hearts, to ultimately share the palm of History with Herodotus”.

Similar things can be found in the works of Batyushkov: during the Olympic Games, Herodotus recited to the audience excerpts from “Muses”; forgetting the sports contests and festivities, people gathered and listened to his recital. Among them was the would-be illustrious philosopher, Thucydides. He cried while listening to the stories told by the “Father of History”. This ends the first part of the poem — the study of antiquity, in the second part (topical) Batyushkov addresses the author of the “History of the Russian State”. Here the emphasis is laid not on the comparison between Karamzin and Herodotus, but on the impression made by the recital of the poem by the Russian “Muses”.

Muraviev’s account, contrary to the original (Marcellinus’ work), does not mention Olorus, father of young Thucydides, nor are there words addressed to him by Herodotus. The main motif of the passage in the author’s ancient biography is to show that the “Father of History” seems to “have blessed” the future Athenian historian: he understood the youth’s feeling for the historical account deeply. Muraviev renders this legend to illustrate his thesis on the property of the ancient literature to captivate the audience. Batyushkov accentuates the impact of historical literature (vivid historical tales) on the hearts of listeners. And while Muraviev’s young Thucydides, while listening to Herodotus’ “Muses”, ‘shed tears of contest’, that is, wishing he could join the agon with the Father of History, he resolved to become a historian and share the palm of History with Herodotus; Batyushkov has no intention to compete with the “Russian Historiographer”, he merely admits that his enrapture is caused by “his ability to feel the master touch” (the statement crowning the poem). He holds that not only is history written by the heart, but also the accounts of ‘fathers’ endeavours’ move one’s the heart (“fervently”).

* The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation № 25-28-02585, https://rscf.ru/en/project/25-28-02585/; Russian Christian Academy for Humanities named after Fyodor Dostoevsky